Inspection of Israeli embassy car allowed

New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) A Delhi court Tuesday allowed the Israeli embassy car damaged in a bomb blast here Feb 13 to be inspected by an insurance surveyor to assess the damages for reimbursement. The court also ordered for video-recording of the inspection.

"The applicant (Alon Yehoshua) is at liberty to get the vehicle inspected in malkhana of Special Cell with minimum intervention to the vehicle," the court said while allowing the car to be inspected on May 10 between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The application for releasing the vehicle was moved by Alon Yehoshua, defence attache of Israeli embassy and husband of embassy employee Tal Yehoshua, who was injured in the attack.

The court ordered the video CD of the inspection will be kept on investigation record and directed that no copy of it be made public.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vinod Yadav allowed the application for releasing the vehicle for surveyor to inspect the car and assess its damages.

It was also directed by the court that copy of the first information report (FIR) cannot be supplied to Yehoshua for the purpose of insurance formalities as it is lying in a sealed cover in the court.

However, after Mehmood Pracha, counsel for Journalist Syed Mohammed Ahmad Kazmi, an accused in the Feb 13 blast case, opposed the plea, the court granted him liberty to participate in the inspection process.

Opposing the plea, Kazmi's counsel said, "The special team investigating the matter might have already tampered with the car and in the garb of court's order, they may seek authorisation of their misdeeds."

The counsel had earlier also opposed the application and said that the probe was still on and if the car was released at this stage then this crucial piece of evidence could be tampered with.

"The case is of international ramification and if permission is granted to the surveyor of an insurance company to inspect the car, it would amount to tampering with vital evidence," said Pracha.